New faculty join UMMC academic ranks

Dr. Devika Das

Dr. Devika Das, recently an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Florida Health in Gainesville, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of medicine-hematology and as director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology. 

Das will also serve as the associate director of clinical affairs for the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute. 

Board-certified in hematology, oncology and internal medicine, Das earned her medical degree from Grant Medical College in India and completed her internal medicine residency and a hematology and oncology fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also she holds a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Safety from UAB. 

Das, whose clinical focus is thoracic oncology, served as the section chief of hematology and oncology at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and has held other national and regional leadership roles with the VA, including principal investigator for the lung precision oncology program for veterans and site director for a state veterans’ lung cancer screening program. She also served as the director for quality improvement in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Florida.  

Das has been a co-investigator on a number of research projects. In health care education, she was a fellowship site director and associate fellowship program director, among other roles. Recently, she was also medical director for solid tumor oncology trials with the clinical research organization, Parexel. At the University of Florida, she was also disease group lead for thoracic oncology, as well as division director of quality and safety. 

Throughout her career, Das has earned a number of awards and honors for her scholarship, teaching, leadership, advocacy and more. She has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on various grant-supported research projects. She has numerous peer-reviewed publications, published abstracts, poster presentations and a book chapter to her credit. 

Her experience as an invited lecturer/speaker is extensive. 

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Sarah Grace B. Hinkle

Sarah Grace B. Hinkle, recently a graduate clinician serving Madison Crossing Elementary School in Canton, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery in the School of Medicine. 

Hinkle earned a master’s degree in speech and hearing sciences, deaf education, in 2019 from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and a Master of Science in Communicative Disorders in May from Jackson State University. She completed the AIM Institute for Learning and Research course, Pathways to Proficient Reading. 

Hinkle also received training as an extern at the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Implant Center. She served for several years at Magnolia Speech School in Madison as a listening and spoken language teacher and as a part-time early oral interventionist.  

Before joining Madison Crossing, she also served as a graduate clinician for the Hazlehurst City School District; Central Mississippi Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic at Jackson State; Global Connection Learning Center in Jackson; and in acute care as well as at the Voice and Swallowing Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. 

At Jackson State, she was the recipient of the Mississippi Speech-Language Hearing Association’s Outstanding Graduate Clinician Award in 2024.  

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Dr. Janice (Siu Yi) Yau

Dr. Janice (Siu Yi) Yau, an audiologist who recently completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery in the School of Medicine. 

Yau earned a Bachelor of Arts in Translation from Hong Kong Baptist University before receiving her Bachelor of Science in Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education in 2021 from Utah State University in Logan. She completed the Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program this year at the University of South Florida in Tampa. 

Her clinical interests include cochlear implants and electrophysiological testing, with a focus on a diverse and complex patient population in a multidisciplinary medical setting. Her research interests focus on bilingualism and speech-in-noise performance and she presented her doctoral project at the World Congress of Audiology in Paris, France in 2024.  

Fluent in multiple languages, Yau is committed to bringing strong cultural competence and international perspective to her clinical work.